PS4 title DriveClub will be available on launch day for racing fans, but there's a choice to be made depending on what level of content you'd like. At a gamescom behind-closed-doors showing of the game, Evolution explained that the PlayStation Plus free version of DriveClub will have access to every mode and feature that you'd get in the full Blu-ray version of the game. The only thing missing are some of the cars and tracks.

The Blu-ray, though, has access to everything. All content. This gives you the complete experience with no further costs. Evolution calls this the best approach to DriveClub. They said that everything in the game is something you're going to want to see. Cheeky.

While they're not talking prices yet, we do know that there will be multiple entry points. Evolution said that they want players to have plenty of purchase options, and that they're not out to trick players into paying more money through the free version or anything like that.

And from what we've seen, DriveClub looks like one you'll want to grab on day one if you dig racing. I saw a demo of a battle between two players -- one using a PS4 and another playing via Remote Play on a Vita. What made things interesting was a companion phone app that allowed another player to send a challenge to these two friends. The challenge was instantly sent to their systems, popping up on their activity feed. The players worked to beat the top time in that challenge, with reports coming back to the app user post race. They've worked to make Driveclub as social as possible, and with free availability at launch for all PS4 owners, it's going to have a huge network of gamers to play against from the first day.

DriveClub is still in development, but it's looking pretty sharp already. Evolution claims to have packed in "ridiculous amounts of detail," covering everything from asphalt textures to star simulations for the nighttime sky. They used 18 microphones to record every aspect of the sound, and have processed that data for a head positioning simulation for the cars' interiors. There's a damage system that goes farther than just dents, including modeling for carbon fiber and metal damage, deformation in panels, and more.

Here at gamescom, DriveClub is showing at 30 frames per second. Evolution says that they're still aiming for 60 frames per second, though. They say that changing frame rates clauses irregularities in the physics system, so they want to nail it down one way or the other. There's still some time left for them to achieve this before DriveClub's PS4 launch day release.

timeline following:⇓ Driveclub

To tease one of the upcoming cars arriving for Driveclub this month, the developers decided to give us a sneak peak via a video showing off the terrifying speed the unnamed four-wheeled machine can do -- at least 242 mph.
You got what it takes to hit that kind of speed and not end up a stain on the road? We'll have to see in the coming weeks.
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Get Blackhole. Problem solved.more